Living in London

As I write this in am riding on the Eurostar to Paris. Last week we were in Prague. This week Paris, and we will be in Brussels for the weekend. Damn! Are we international travellers, or what?

We will be flying back to London so I thought I would offer a comparison between the Eurostar and air travel.

• Cost: My BMI ticket was £12 plus £30.31 surcharges and taxes. Total BMI was £42.31. The Eurostar ticket was £149! Three points: air travel.
• Time: The Eurostar trip is 2 hours and 50 minutes (170 minutes) while the BMI flight is 90 minutes. However, Eurostar only requires you to be there 30 minutes in advance for check-in and airlines require at least an hour (90 minutes is more realistic). The Paris Charles DeGaulle airport is much farther from the city downtown area than the train terminal so the Eurostar is at least as quick for getting from London to downtown Paris. Tie: No points.
• Comfort: The seats on the Eurostar have about 3 more inches of legroom compared to typical coach seat on an airplane. The tray table is large and accommodates a laptop very well. One point: Eurostar
• Work Time: The train car is very comfortable and conducive to working. It is quiet and we have not been interrupted for any reason or told to turn off electronic devices until the plane has reached a cruising altitude. One point: Eurostar.
• View: We are cruising at 100+ miles per hour through rolling hills and beautiful countryside. Except for the 20 minutes that we spend in the Chunnel, there is no way to compare the view between air and rail travel. Three points: Eurostar.
• Personal Movement: Airlines are very restrictive in allowing passengers to move about the cabin. On a plane you have to be strapped into your seat during take off and landing and at the pilot's whim during the remainder of the flight. The Eurostar, on the other hand, offers no restrictions. There are no seatbelts and no flight attendants dragging drink carts up and down the aisles. One point: Eurostar.
• Extra points: On the Eurostar you have the freedom use the toilet or grab a snack from the food car whenever you want. One point: Eurostar.

Penalty Points: I just returned from the loo where the toilet was plugged and the tissue is rougher than 180 grit sand paper. Minus two points: Eurostar.

So in the end, it is Eurostar ahead by two points. It was a very nice trip. Once we arrived in Paris we realized that we were much less stressed than if we had have flown. Highly recommended.